There are apparently[clarification needed] around 128,000 speakers of Adyghe in Russia, almost all of them native speakers. In total, some 300,000 speak it worldwide. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the post Russian–Circassian War (circa 1763–1864) diaspora; in addition to that, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.

The language was standardised after the October Revolution in 1917. Since 1936, the Cyrillic script has been used to write Adyghe. Before that, an Arabic-based alphabet was used together with the Latin. In recent years, a new Latin script has been devised that seeks to include phonemes from all the Adyghe and Kabardian dialects, as well as other Caucasian languages.

Note: Adyghe has many consonants that appear in dialects other than those mentioned above or in the table, and has a complex system of consonant allophony. More information on those can be found at Adyghe phonology.

In contrast to its large consonant inventory, Adyghe has only three phonemic vowels in a vertical vowel system.

In case the letter ⟨у⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wə] ⟨уы⟩. For example, : унэ [wəna] "house" instead of уынэ, урыс [wərəs] "Russian" instead of уырыс, куу [kʷəwə] "deep" instead of кууы. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əw]~[u] ⟨ыу⟩. For example, : чэту [t͡ʃaːtəw] "cat" instead of чэтыу, бзу [bzəw] "bird" instead of бзыу, дуней [dəwnej] "world" instead of дыуней.

In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨э⟩ [a], instead of the letter ⟨у⟩ there is a ⟨о⟩. For example, : гъогу [ʁʷaɡʷ] "road" instead of гъуэгу, машӏо [maːʃʷʼa] "fire" instead of машӏуэ, шъо [ʃʷa] "you (plural)" instead of шъуэ.

In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨а⟩ [aː] or ⟨и⟩ [i/əj], the labialised consonant letter is written fully. for example : цуакъэ [t͡sʷaːqa] "shoes", гуащэ [ɡʷaɕa] "princes", шъуи [ʃʷəj] "yours (plural).

In case the letter ⟨о⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wa] ⟨уэ⟩. For example : о [wa] "you" instead of уэ, орэд [warad] "song" instead of уэрэд, онтэгъу [wantaʁʷ] "heavy" instead of уэнтэгъу, зао [zaːwa] "war" instead of зауэ, ныо [nəwa] "old woman" instead of ныуэ.

In case the letter ⟨е⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [ja] ⟨йэ⟩. For example, : еӏо [jaʔʷa] "he says" instead of йэӏо, еплъы [japɬə] "he sees" instead of йэплъы, мые [məja] "apple" instead of мыйэ, бае [baːja] "rich" instead of байэ, шъэжъые [ʂaʐəja] "knife" instead of шъэжъыйэ. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [aj]~[e] ⟨эй⟩. For example, : делэ [dajla] "fool" instead of дэйлэ, къедж [qajd͡ʒ] "read" instead of къэйдж, непэ [najpa] "today" instead of нэйпэ.

In case the letter ⟨и⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [jə] ⟨йы⟩. For example, : илъэс [jəɬas] "year" instead of йылъэс, иунэ [jəwəna] "his house" instead of йыуын, шӏои [ʃʷʼajə] "dirty" instead of шӏойы, дэи [dajə] "bad" instead of дэйы. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əj]~[i] ⟨ый⟩. For example, : сиӏ [səjʔ] "I have" instead of сыйӏ, уиунэ [wəjwəna] "your house" instead of уыйуынэ, къины [qəjnə] "hard" instead of къыйны.

Adyghe is taught outside Circassia in a Jordanian school for the Jordanian Adyghes, Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School in the capital Amman. This school, which was established by the Adyghe Jordanians with support from the late kingHussein of Jordan, is one of the first schools for the Adyghe communities outside Circassia. It has around 750 Jordanian Adyghe students, and one of its major goals is to preserve Adyghe among newer Adyghe generations, while also emphasising the traditions of the Adyghes.[11]

According to the UNESCO 2009 map entitled "UNESCO Map of the World's Languages in Danger", the status of the Adyghe language in 2009, along with all its dialects (Adyghe, Western Circassian tribes) and (Kabard-Cherkess, Eastern Circassian tribes), is classified as vulnerable.[12]

Translation: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was in the beginning With God. All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. What has come into existence by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light is shining in the darkness, but the darkness has not overpowered it.